Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte announced his "separation" from the United States on Thursday, declaring he had realigned with China as the two agreed to resolve their South China Sea dispute through talks.

Duterte made his comments in Beijing, where he is visiting with at least 200 business people to pave the way for what he calls a new commercial alliance as relations with longtime ally Washington deteriorate.

"In this venue, your honors, in this venue, I announce my separation from the United States," Duterte told Chinese and Philippine business people, to applause, at a forum in the Great Hall of the People attended by Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli.

"Both in military, not maybe social, but economics also. America has lost."

awww shit buddy

fucking LMAO @ maoists... how long have they been impotently whining about getting US troops out and this dude does it in a couple weeks haha holy shit just give up maoailures

I think the TPPA is part of the reason why ASEAN countries are shifting away from the US. I was cajoled into going to an ASEAN World Bank conference a while back and it was hilarious--a parade of politicians and bureaucrats who had expended every cent of their Political Capital on selling out their countries to multinationals via this awful deal flailing wildly, trying to explain why they'd invested a decade into this process when the US looks ready to back out or demand even more punitive terms of trade in renegotiations that will likely take years. "It was good practice for future trade deals" was an actual rationale someone gave.

The US promised patronage and favor in exchange for selling off your sovereignty to MNEs, and now the deal, and the quid pro quo that came with it, are completely up in the air. For Najib it's especially galling because he devoted his tenure to positioning himself as Obama's loyal flunky and now Obama isn't protecting him from investigation into his embezzling and money laundering activities.

A sweeping Pacific trade pact meant to bind the U.S.and Asia effectively died Friday, as Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress told the White House they won’t advance it in the election’s aftermath, and Obama administration officials acknowledged it has no way forward now.

A sweeping Pacific trade pact meant to bind the U.S.and Asia effectively died Friday, as Republican and Democratic leaders in Congress told the White House they won’t advance it in the election’s aftermath, and Obama administration officials acknowledged it has no way forward now.

After visiting wounded soldiers in Zamboanga City on Saturday, the foul-mouthed President did not mince words as he let out his disgust over the decision of the Millennium Challenge Corp. (MCC) to rescind its five-year funding to the Philippine government’s antipoverty programs.

“We will not go hungry without the American aid,” he said. “We are not that desperate.”

The President also threatened to raze the headquarters of the United Nations in New York City in response to those accusing him of human rights violations.

“You go and file a complaint in the United Nations. I will burn down the United Nations if you want. I will burn it down if I go to America,” he said.

MANILA, Philippines – There is no danger of the communist rebels breaking the ceasefire over the holidays amid their protests against government delay in releasing political prisoners, according to Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) founder Jose Maria Sison.

"The unilateral ceasefire declarations of the GRP and NDFP will stand during the Christmas and New Year holidays," Sison said in a Facebook post Tuesday afternoon, December 20, in The Netherlands (Tuesday evening in Manila).

The Facebook post comes after Sison had a "productive phone conversation" with President Rodrigo Duterte Monday night, December 19, to "advance" the negotiations.

Sison's post also comes before the CPP's 48th anniversary celebration on December 26. The communist rebels said they will hold peace rallies on that day.

The unilateral ceasefires separately declared in August by the military and the NPA have been holding, but complaints against each other's activities are growing louder on the ground.

Sison said the better set up – a bilateral ceasefire agreement that will establish common rules – will need more time.

Both panels initially aimed to have signed the joint deal by October, but communist rebels have stalled talks pending the release of political prisoners. Government chief negotiator Silvestre Bello III hoped that the joint deal would be signed before yearend.

But Sison said more time is needed to discuss both issues.

"Bilateral ceasefire agreement and the amnesty and release of the political prisoners listed by the NDFP can be discussed and agreed upon before, during and even after the third round of formal talks in Rome from January 18 to 24," Sison said.

The talks are facilitated by Norway, where the first 2 rounds of talks were held. They changed the venue of the 3rd round of talks to Italy because Oslo will be too cold in January. – Rappler.com

DAVAO CITY – President Duterte yesterday told Filipinos not to believe Catholic priests and urged them to join the “Iglesia ni Duterte,” a religion he would establish where there is no prohibition and men are allowed to have five wives.

The Catholic Church has been critical of Duterte’s drug war, which is marked by summary killings and human rights violations.

Duterte blasted the Catholic Church anew after the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of the Philippines and other churches, including the Redemptorist Church in Baclaran, launched exhibits of photos of summary killings under Duterte’s bloody drug war.

In response, Duterte threw insults at the Church during the Christmas party of 2,000 barangay captains and councilors in his hometown Davao City yesterday.

“You say Duterte killer. You priests, you blame me for the death of thousands of drug addicts, even those who died in hospitals, you still blame me. But you are the ones who killed Christ,” Duterte said.

The President also claimed that the Catholic Church has been so hypocritical of his drug war and yet it has not lifted a finger to help the more than four million drug addicts in the country despite collecting large amounts of money during mass.

“They always shout in protest and yet they did not do anything against illegal drugs. They never bothered to help,” he said.

“There is something new these days. Iglesia ni Duterte naay bag-o. Walay bawal-bawal puwede lima ka asawa. Pero saw-a ang problema (Iglesia ni Duterte, where there is no prohibition, you can even have five wives. But make sure you are responsible for your problems).

“The Church is not giving anything even if they collect so much. My statement is full of sarcasm because they (priests) have been criticizing me. They are hypocrites,” he added.

Duterte also said that he believes there is a God and he believes in Allah, but he does not believe in religion, particularly the Catholic Church because it is sowing fear among its faithful about the existence of heaven and hell.

“Do not believe it. That is what that religion is all about, they are instilling fear that you will go to hell if you are a sinner. But you will only know if there is indeed a hell if you die,” the President said.

Duterte told barangay officials to wait for him to die because he would come back and tell them if there is really heaven or hell.

“Be careful about religion, it is about gold. It is about gold. They have not done anything. Where is their God and their grace? There is the hypocrisy of it all,” he said.

Too bad he won't be around for much longer. Color (or Colour) "Revolution" here we come.

US ex-envoy plotting Duterte fall – source

BY DR. DANTE A. ANG, DECEMBER 27, 2016

LISBON, PORTUGAL: The Philippines may be in for another rough ride in 2017.

Not only did former United States Ambassador Philip Goldberg leave the Philippines with a legacy of fractured relations between the two countries, he allegedly left behind a “blueprint to undermine Duterte,” a strategic recommendation ostensibly to the State Department for the ultimate removal of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte from office, according to a highly placed source. It is not clear, however, if the State Department in Washington DC had given its imprimatur to the recommendation by its former ambassador to the Philippines.

A document received over the weekend by The Manila Times from that source said Goldberg had outlined a list of “strategies” to undermine President Duterte and called for his eventual ouster. The blueprint gave a timetable of one-and-a-half years.

Quoting Goldberg, it said the “political actors (the opposition) would need all the political weapons in their arsenal to replace the Duterte administration and replace it with something more to the opposition’s liking.” He noted, however, “that (deposing Duterte) would be a challenge for the opposition.”

Analyzing the President’s weakness, Goldberg said that Mr. Duterte “has no real friends” outside of his region for his propensity to mock and ridicule people close to him. He also said that the President’s “views are shaped not by ideology or personal ambitions, but by old-fashioned nationalism where he holds the United States accountable for the Philippines’ current state of poverty and dependency.”

To bring down Duterte, the Goldberg plan calls for stoking public dissatisfaction with the President over unfulfilled election promises, isolating the Philippines from the rest of the Asean by extending military assistance to member countries except the Philippines, and/or through economic “blackmail” that aims to limit trade by some Asean member countries with the Philippines.

Goldberg also encourages support for the opposition through aids and grants, sowing discontent among the Duterte supporters and cultivating the cleavage between the congressmen and the senators over the Charter Change issue.

In brief, the plan calls on the US government to employ a combination of socio-economic-political-diplomatic moves against Duterte “to bring him to his knees and eventually remove him from office.”
The paper outlined the Ambassador’s “strategies to be employed” such as:

Political and economic isolation of the Philippines in the region by engaging the leaders of Japan, Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos and by “highlighting the basic question of the risk of doing business in the Philippines.”
Enhanced US military relationship with members of the Asean community except the Philippines.

Blackmail neighboring countries so they would turn against Duterte by reducing trade with the Philippines in favor of Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos.

Deepen ties with Philippine officials (the opposition), the police/military and leaders in the region who share the US concerns over Duterte.

Track corruption cases and highlight the failures of Duterte.

“Focus on the needs of the people at the grassroots and assist the opposition groups in delivering those failed promises through USAID – such as alleviation of poverty, housing and education – to name a few.”

Utilize the media to expose the truth about Duterte – “his false vision for the Filipino people and his dangerous international relationships with China and Russia.”

Goldberg also recommends, “change the political landscape by dividing the core leadership of Duterte” by “sowing discontent among (his) partymates.” He observed that some of the President’s allies are privately becoming concerned over his shift in foreign policy and the twist in the character of his economic and social agenda that veers closely toward the Left.

The former US Ambassador underscores the need to stoke the fire between the “defenders of the rule of law and Duterte’s Leftist group” by highlighting the demands of the Left to free all political prisoners in the country even before a formal peace agreement could be signed between the government and the CPP/NDF/NPA, and an end to US military presence in the Philippines.

It is not clear from what the source said how Goldberg would go about weakening the Philippine currency, but it states that such a scenario would lead to inflation (and would raise prices of food and other commodities). (Author’s note: He was wrong, though, in predicting that a weak peso would make our agriculture less competitive. On the contrary, a weak peso would help strengthen our exports and make our products more competitive in the global market.)

The paper also quoted Goldberg’s recommendation to “capitalize on a possible stalemate” as a possible course of action if and when the Lower House marginalizes the Senate on the voting on Charter Change. The Lower House has already publicly declared that both the House and the Senate should vote as one and not separately, as espoused by the Senators. Voting as one would, as some senators say, disenfranchise them given the sheer number of the congressmen – 240 representatives versus 24 Senators.

There will be fallout as a result of the Charter Change stalemate. Many legislators will break away from the administration as a consequence, Goldberg predicts.

In his observation, the US former envoy to the Philippines said that while President Duterte has been successful in earning the support of the people for his campaign against drugs, his political and economic program has failed to deliver the desired results. The US government, he said, should try “to understand how Duterte thinks” and what his next moves would be.

“With growing concern about the country’s security situation and economic discontent, the pressure is on Duterte to deliver concrete results,” the paper wrote, quoting Goldberg. “In this increasingly sensitive environment – a country susceptible to favor political disruption, our approach must be measured. Opposition actors across the political spectrum look at us (US) for cues, and our (US) influence is much greater than our footprint.”

Goldberg also advises “restraint in expressing public support for former President Fidel Valdez Ramos and Vice President Leni Robredo, as well as other opposition leaders “so as not to alarm the Duterte administration of an impending “destabilization or a coup.” He admits, however, that the “operation (coup) is obscured with difficulties.”

Two other options were presented by Goldberg, according to the paper: The rift among the Duterte supporters should be exploited, or assist the “Robredo-led opposition groups (to include the Catholic Church and other religious groups, business sectors, civil society groups and the youth) in addressing the international community regarding the shift in foreign policy issue, restoration of democracy and the protection of human rights through constitutional means.”

Goldberg predicts a worsening of the US-Philippine relations, more so on the issue of the US military presence in the Philippines, more particularly during the last two years of the Duterte administration.

The paper also wrote that the former US ambassador to the Philippines wanted to “know the views of Sen. Bongbong Marcos on a variety of issues such as: the Enhanced Defense Cooperation Agreement (EDCA), China, Human Rights and the US-PH relations.”